Latest news with #IndiaPakistanConflict
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
India Confirms It Lost Fighter Jets in Recent Pakistan Conflict
Anil Chauhan, chief of defense staff of the Indian Armed Forces, spoke to Bloomberg's Haslinda Amin on Saturday while attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. He called Pakistan's claims that it shot down six Indian warplanes "absolutely incorrect," though declined to say how many jets India lost. It's the first time the Indian military confirmed that it lost an unspecified number of fighter jets in clashes with Pakistan in May. Sign in to access your portfolio
South China Morning Post
8 hours ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
India confirms loss of fighter jets in recent Pakistan conflict
India's military confirmed for the first time that it lost an unspecified number of fighter jets in clashes with Pakistan in May, while saying the four-day conflict never came close to the point of nuclear war. Advertisement 'What is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down,' Anil Chauhan, chief of defence staff of the Indian Armed Forces, said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Saturday, while attending the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. He called Pakistan's claims that it shot down six Indian warplanes 'absolutely incorrect', but declined to specify how many jets India lost. 'Why they were down, what mistakes were made – that are important,' Chauhan said when asked about the fighter jets. 'Numbers are not important,' he added. 'The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range,' Chauhan said. Indian army soldiers keep vigil near The Line of Control between Pakistan and India, in the Poonch sector of India's Jammu region, on May 20. Photo: AFP The comments are the most direct yet from an Indian government or military official on the fate of the country's fighter jets during the conflict with Pakistan that erupted on May 7.
The Independent
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
India finally admits it lost fighter jets in clash with Pakistan – but refuses to say how many
India has confirmed for the first time that it lost fighter jets during its brief military conflict with Pakistan earlier in May, though the country still refuses to clarify the number or nature of aircraft it lost. New Delhi and Islamabad stepped back from the brink of all-out war following their worst military escalation in decades, which resulted in the deaths of dozens of civilians in cross-border shelling, as well as drone attacks by both sides. Pakistan 's military claimed it shot down six Indian Air Force jets, including three French-made Rafale aircraft, during the initial clashes. Both India and Pakistan claimed to have downed each other's fighter jets in a dogfight that reportedly involved over 125 aircraft, making it the largest aerial battle since the Second World War. General Anil Chauhan, India's chief of defence staff, admitted India suffered initial losses in the air, but declined to give details. 'What is important is that... not the jet being downed, but why they were being downed,' he told Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. However, he said Pakistan's claims of downing six Indian warplanes were "absolutely incorrect". 'The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets again, targeting at long range,' Gen Chauhan said. In separate remarks to Reuters in Singapore he said that after rectifying tactics, "we went back on the 7th, 8th and 10th in large numbers to hit air bases deep inside Pakistan, penetrated all their air defences with impunity, carried out precision strikes'. The Indian air force "flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordinances on the 10th", he said. India has previously said its missiles and drones struck at least eight Pakistani air bases across the country that day, including one near the capital Islamabad. India's director general of air operations, Air Marshal AK Bharti, had told a press conference earlier in the month that "losses are a part of combat" and that India had downed some Pakistani jets. Islamabad has denied it suffered any losses of planes but has acknowledged its air bases suffered some hits, describing the impact as minimal. Some of the attacks were reportedly against bases near Pakistan's nuclear facility in Kirana Hills of Punjab province, but the Indian military has said the facility itself was not targeted. "Most of the strikes were delivered with pinpoint accuracy, some even to a metre, to whatever was our selected mean point of impact," Gen Chauhan said. Gen Chauhan and Pakistan's chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, General Sahir Shamshad Mirza, have both said there was no danger at any time during the conflict that nuclear weapons were considered. "I think there's a lot of space before that nuclear threshold is crossed, a lot of signalling before that, I think nothing like that happened," Gen Chauhan said. "There's a lot of space for conventional operations which has been created, and this will be the new norm." "It's my personal view that the most rational people are people in uniform when conflict takes place," he added. "During this operation, I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions. So why should we assume that in the nuclear domain there will be irrationality on someone else's part?" The conflict began after India struck alleged militant hideouts in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir to avenge the deaths of 26 people, mostly Hindu tourists, killed in a terror attack in India-administered Kashmir on 22 April. New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing the gunmen who carried out the massacre. Islamabad denied the charge and sought an independent investigation. The Indian strikes escalated the tensions into a military conflict as the two sides exchanged heavy fire along their de facto border in the restive Kashmir region as well as missile and drone strikes on military installations. The Indian military claimed to have killed nearly 100 militants with its overnight strikes and 35-40 personnel of Pakistan's armed forces in subsequent action along the de facto border. The Pakistani army said on Tuesday that the clash with India had left 11 soldiers and 40 civilians dead. A Pakistani minister last week claimed their armed forces had killed 40-50 Indian soldiers. The intense four-day period of fighting came to a halt with a ceasefire announced by both governments following talks between their national security advisers. US president Donald Trump has claimed credit for brokering the truce, though Indian officials have quietly rowed back against the idea that his intervention was pivotal.
Al Arabiya
9 hours ago
- General
- Al Arabiya
India defense chief says jet downed in Pakistan conflict
India's defense chief on Saturday appeared to confirm his country had lost at least one aircraft during the brief conflict with Pakistan earlier this month, he told Bloomberg in an interview. India and Pakistan were engaged in a four-day conflict this month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10. More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire on both sides. Pakistan claimed its Chinese-supplied jets had shot down six Indian aircraft. India's chief of defense staff, General Anil Chauhan, called Pakistan's claims that it shot down six Indian warplanes 'absolutely incorrect.' But Chauhan, when pressed as to whether India had lost any jets, appeared to confirm New Delhi had lost an unspecified number of aircraft -- without giving details. 'I think, what is important is that, not the jet being down, but why they were being down,' he told Bloomberg TV, speaking on the sidelines of Shangri-La Dialogue defense meeting in Singapore. There was no immediate response from New Delhi. On May 11, a day after the ceasefire, India's Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, speaking to reporters, had said that 'all our pilots are back home', adding that 'we are in a combat scenario, and that losses are a part of combat.' A senior security source told AFP three Indian jets had crashed on home soil without giving the make or cause. But until the comments on Saturday, India had not officially confirmed any of its aircraft were lost. 'The good part is that we are able to understand the tactical mistake which we made, remedy it, rectify it, and then implement it again after two days and flew all our jets, again targeting at long range,' Chauhan added, speaking to Bloomberg. 'Why they were down -- that is more important for us, and what did we do after that', he added. The recent conflict between the nuclear-armed rivals was triggered by an attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22, the deadliest on civilians in the contested Muslim-majority territory in decades. New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the militants it said carried out the attack, charges that Pakistan denied.
Arab News
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Arab News
India lost fighter jets in recent conflict with Pakistan, Indian defense chief confirms
SINGAPORE: India switched tactics after suffering losses in the air on the first day of conflict with Pakistan earlier this month and established a decisive advantage before the neighbors announced a ceasefire three days later, India's highest ranking general said on Saturday. The heaviest fighting in decades between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan was sparked by an April 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir that killed 26 people, most of them tourists. New Delhi blamed the incident on 'terrorists' backed by Pakistan, a charge denied by Islamabad. On May 7, Indian jets bombed what New Delhi called 'terrorist infrastructure' sites across the border. Pakistan has said it downed six Indian planes, including at least three Rafale fighters, in the initial clashes. The ceasefire was announced on May 10 after bitter fighting in which both sides used fighter jets, missiles, drones and artillery. General Anil Chauhan, India's chief of defense staff, said in an interview that India suffered initial losses in the air, but declined to give details. 'What was important is, why did these losses occur, and what we'll do after that,' he told Reuters on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum in Singapore, referring to the Pakistani claim of downing jets. 'So we rectified tactics and then went back on the 7th, 8th and 10th in large numbers to hit air bases deep inside Pakistan, penetrated all their air defenses with impunity, carried out precision strikes.' The Indian air force 'flew all types of aircraft with all types of ordinances on the 10th,' he said. India has previously said its missiles and drones struck at least eight Pakistani air bases across the country that day, including one near the capital Islamabad. The Pakistan military says that India did not fly its fighter jets again in the conflict after suffering losses on May 7. India's director general of air operations, Air Marshal A.K. Bharti, had told a press conference earlier in the month that 'losses are a part of combat' and that India had downed some Pakistani jets. Islamabad has denied it suffered any losses of planes but has acknowledged its air bases suffered some hits although losses were minimal. NO NUCLEAR WORRIES Some of the attacks were on bases near Pakistan's nuclear facilities, but they themselves were not targeted, media reports have said. 'Most of the strikes were delivered with pinpoint accuracy, some even to a meter, to whatever was our selected mean point of impact,' Chauhan said. Chauhan, and Pakistan's chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen. Sahir Shamshad Mirza, have both said there was no danger at any time during the conflict that nuclear weapons were considered. 'I think there's a lot of space before that nuclear threshold is crossed, a lot of signalling before that, I think nothing like that happened,' Chauhan said. 'There's a lot of space for conventional operations which has been created, and this will be the new norm. 'It's my personal view that the most rational people are people in uniform when conflict takes place,' he added. 'During this operation, I found both sides displaying a lot of rationality in their thoughts as well as actions. So why should we assume that in the nuclear domain there will be irrationality on someone else's part?' Chauhan also said that although Pakistan is closely allied with China, which borders India in the north and east, there was no sign of any actual help from Beijing during the conflict. 'While this was unfolding from (April) 22nd onwards, we didn't find any unusual activity in the operational or tactical depth of our northern borders, and things were generally all right.' Asked whether China may have provided any satellite imagery or other real-time intelligence to Pakistan during the conflict, Chauhan said such imagery was commercially available and could have been procured from China as well as other sources. He added that while hostilities had ceased, the Indian government had made it clear it would 'respond precisely and decisively should there be any further terror attacks emanating from Pakistan.' 'So that has its own dynamics as far the armed forces are concerned. It will require us to be prepared 24/7.'
